


Down on Your Luck

by Trash_Queen



Category: Kamen Rider Gaim
Genre: Blood, Brainwashing, Dental Trauma, Emetophobia, Insect mentions, Mind Control, Tooth Pulling, Torture, dubcon, idk vomit is mentioned a fair amount so if ur weird about that
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-03-06
Updated: 2015-07-14
Packaged: 2018-03-13 05:45:25
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 10
Words: 6,916
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3370004
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Trash_Queen/pseuds/Trash_Queen
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>It's the end of the world and you don't feel fine</p>
<p>collection of mind control au fics, nothing is in order rn, tags are gonna update as it goes</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. We're on Each Other's Team

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Not very pretty but we sure know how to run things

Kumon Kaito was not a very kind person. After the challenges of the past few months, the trials and tribulations and violence, after eating the fruit, he comes to them like a false prophet, Yoko in tow, and issues an ultimatum: Join or die.

He tells Zack and Peco that this should be a very, very simple choice. There is room for them in the new place he would build, he wants them by his side as he takes the world. Zack makes a simple choice. He says 'yes', and hides his treacherous intent from Yoko's hawk-like gaze as best he can. She's watching him, he knows it. He knows she doesn't believe him.

Zack also knows that Peco would ultimately rather tell someone like Kaito to fuck off rather than go along with it. And that's exactly what they do.

What's harder than having to seize your friend and lock them in their old room and throw away the key? Zack supposes that he's gonna be doing that a lot, gonna be feeling the bruises on his legs for weeks.

After a few days of bringing Peco meals (they won't eat), checking up on their wellbeing (they won't talk to him. He walked in on them tying bedsheets together, to climb out the window, he hopes) before Kaito tells him that he's got the perfect thing to quiet Peco and ensure their complete devotion. It sends a nasty, sick feeling rolling around in his belly when he watches Kaito walk up to someone on the street and slip a vine grown from his palm into their mouth. Their eyes roll back into their head and they fall to their knees in spasms. It seems like forever before they roll over and lay still, with a bloody nose and ears.  
Kaito shrugs and admits he can't do it perfectly yet. 

So far, the best attempts at mind control result in something that's probably closest to a lobotomy. The worst result in death. They keep no tallies of how many ended up in which category, and Zack doesn't want to go outside now for fear of angry citizens, the leftovers of team gaim, and the unchecked failures, though he knows they can't hurt him. He's thankful that Peco can't see them from their window, now sealed shut with boards nailed over it, thanks to one too many escape attempts.

The failures are obedient to a fault when Kaito calls them, awaiting his command silently and hanging on to every word. This isn't what he wants for someone like Peco, he says. A mindless army is a useful tool, for now, but what could be more useful than people utterly devoted to an ideal with the ability to make decisions of their own. He makes it clear that he needs disciples, devotees. Not zombies.

Months full of failed experiments go by before Kaito declares their first success. Zack doesn't know this person, but he can tell between who they were when Kaito found them and who the were after they were implanted with their own individual green shoot. They had walked into her house like they owned it and ignored her yelling and screaming, Zack holding her down by her shoulders and Kaito growing a small vine from his palm again. She was different than the others. Instead of rolling over and dying or adopting a permanently blank expression, she collapsed into spasms and a coughing fit before going about her day, cleaning and trying to make calls over the dead lines, ignoring them like they aren't even there, trying to go back to living in her pre-disaster reality. It's a young woman, probably a mother, and when Kaito calls her she comes with a blank look on her face. Results must be replicated, Kaito points out, and they invade countless more homes before he is totally satisfied.

Peco's room is up a flight of stairs and hidden by two turns, a right and a left one, down the hall. Kaito walks them like they're nothing, and Zack envies him the ability. Does mental fortitude like hat come with absolute conviction or a clear conscious, he wonders. One certainly isn't the other. The room, when they reach it, is quiet, and at first Zack thinks Peco is somehow gone, or dead, or (more probably), hiding. There are trays of half-eaten and rotting food around, and Peco was sitting on the floor, on the other side of the bed, facing away from them. They don't put up much of a fight anymore, they can't, probably, after months of barely taking care of themselves, but Kaito comes away from forcing a vine into Peco's mouth with a nasty bite on his hand and a shout. They take Peco out of their old room and just, sit with them downstairs. Kaito starts talking about something, something irrelevant that Zack doesn't hear because he's too busy looking to see if Peco would say anything, would kick or scream or bite his hand again, or even by some miracle, throw up the vine. But the longer time goes on, the more he sees that's a distinct impossibility now.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> welp,this sucks man


	2. There'll never be enough of us

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> you are not alone

The first thing that Peco noticed was that their head was blissfully clear. They sat there on the steps in the base and held their head in their hands, and waited for the nausea to fade. They were leaning into Kaito's arm as Zack's hands ran across their shoulders, trying to comfort them. They weren't thinking about much of anything, not the sickness or (later) the disorientation or the amnesia that had been slowly receding over the course of the past week, not the weakness that had come from barely eating or the discomfort that had come from eating too much too fast. They knew who they were, where they were, what had happened; Kaito had become an overlord, Kouta and Mai were gone, the forrest was growing, and the three of them were back together. Everything seemed right.

They weren't going to spend time reflecting on the past few months, not when they were honestly more than content here. Peco had never been someone stuck on looking back, anyways. Their life was here, their future was here, in Zawame with Kaito and Zack.

However much hurt and confusion and turbulence had happened to them, they had all made it out; they were all here now. They looked up at Zack- sweating away a (rare) free afternoon in their home-turned-greenhouse laying upstair with them; He had taken to reading more and more, disappearing behind a book if they weren't being put to some sort of use. He noticed them staring, and didn't look up from his book to ask what they were thinking about.

Not much, nothing, all of them- Peco didn't know which was a better answer. They asked Zack what he was reading instead. He shrugged and looked at the cover; something historical, about the warring states. It looked like something Kaito would read. They said as much, and Zack shrugged and said 'probably' before going back to reading. 

They left him alone for a bit before sitting up, leaning over to pluck the book from his hands and reading a few lines before setting it down and moving to silence Zack's half-hearted complaints with a kiss. They pointed out that the two of them hadn't spent time together in months, why not do something with each other instead of just read? They watched Zack pretend to think on it before relenting with an over-dramatic 'okaaaay'. They rolled their eyes and kissed him again.

Kaito walked in a moment later, stretching and sitting down on the bed with them, asking what was going on. Zack smiled, pointed at Peco and said 'this one's being a distraction,' laughing off their insistence that he was ignoring them for whatever  _this_ (the held the book up) was. Kaito took it and flipped through it; he had read it before, it was a good book. Peco bemoaned the fact that they were besieged by nerds before pulling the book away again and kissing Kaito.

The afternoon slipped away in a flurry of light jabs and laughter, playing keepaway with the book and quick kisses here and there. This was right, this was good. Peco's head was clear; clear of the loneliness and doubt and ill-will that had plagued it for the past year. It was a good feeling.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> this sounds rlly domestic haha  
> now that i think about it kaito & peco & zack probably actually dont live together and that fucked me up tbh  
> what happened to kota and mai????lmao i dont know!!!!!!!


	3. Punch Drunk

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "Everything is about sex, except sex. Sex is about power" sorta stuff

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> quick n dirty idk

He felt like he was going to explode one of these days- hell, he felt like he was going to explode right now. Kaito had gone out earlier, leaving something in the way of 'having to take care of some business' as an explanation (that was always what he said), and had come back with a bloody mouth and a bloody nose. Zack had been wasting his time on who knows what, some old papers or something, when Kaito pulled him away from it and up the stairs, put him against the wall and kissed him. In the loosest sense of the word. The blood smeared between their mouths; the smell made Zack's stomach turn. 

Kaito's hand moved from his shoulder to his jaw, forcing his mouth open to lick into it, and if the smell of blood was bad, it tasted even worse. He grabbed onto Kaito's shirt, and god, he wanted to push him away more than anything. One of Kaito's knees came up between his legs, pushing up against him and making him shudder. Kaito's hands went from his face and arm to his hips, and rubbed small, slow circles into them- it turned into a cycle, grinding and rubbing and more and more blood pushed into Zack's mouth, as he let out desperate noises and he kept his eyes shut. 

Eventually Kaito stopped and, resting his forehead against Zack's, licked the spit and half-dried blood around his mouth, and grinned when he palmed Zack's hard-on through his pants and let out a quiet laugh when he pushed back against him. Kaito wasn't even really touching him, just watching and smiling as he squirmed. It seemed like it took forever for him to finally be done with that, and when he finally did put one hand down the front of his pants, it didn't take very long for Zack to finish, putting his hand to his mouth to be as quiet as he could be. Kaito took Zack's hand in his, pulling it away and placing a kiss on the back of it before stepping away. He hadn't gotten off from any of that, and Zack took a moment to try and right himself before asking if he wanted him to take care of it.

Kaito just said 'Later, we've got more work to do,' before turning to leave. Zack against the wall for a whole longer, trying to wipe all the blood off of his face and push his thoughts away. We've got more work to do. More work to do, there's more work to do. Go change your clothes, go wash your face, go back to your papers, he told himself. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> idk i wanted to get another chapter of this out rlly bad; takes place whenever, not any peco in this chapter b/c im just eh, & i like being rlly mean to zack!!!i love it!!!!  
>  i got this and two other chapters drafted and theyre movin slow rn


	4. You Get Punched for the Love Club

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> There's something about hanging out with the wicked kids

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> /shrugs idk!!!!

Things had eventually devolved into this:

Zack tries to kill Kaito in his sleep.

He fails.

Kaito punishes him.

Because to Kaito, this is just a game. He's become something so incredibly inhuman; stitching himself back together after dismemberment, bleeding out endlessly when Zack had decided to try exsanguination, waking up hale and hearty after being poisoned. Zack can't kill him, he doesn't stand a chance, but he keeps trying. He's got a list now, sort of. Each week he's got something to resort to, and each week Kaito lets him try, humors him before bringing down the hammer- metaphorically and literally, sometimes- and putting him back in his place.

This week was dismemberment (again), and Kaito's face looks almost bored as Zack takes him apart. This is the first time he goes and takes apart Peco, though. He'd never tried it before and had never wanted to. They weren't really evil, this wasn't their fault. He was, upon reflection, feeling a little bit hysterical when he decided to do it, and his stomach turned more at seeing the slimy plant fibers that had grown along their veins and arteries and into their bones than it did at the actual murder.

Tonight he's dragged away by Yoko's strong hands; she had never really cared about him, she was in this for her own gain, what did she have to lose by getting rid of someone she would have clashed with later on anyway. She wrestles him to the ground and ties his hands behind his back, ties his feet together so he cant kick her, and gags him before picking him up and carrying him to another room. When he wakes up, he sees that its his. There's a little bit of sunlight peeking through the blinds. The sun rises and sets two more times before he has to sleep; no one's come to see him. He doesn't wake up on his own- it's the sound of the door opening, and he doesn't see who it is that takes the gag off and pours water down his throat. He choked trying to swallow it all. 

Peco, surprisingly, was the one who did it. Their scars were gruesome, they had been sewn back together nicely but their stitches were clogged with blood and tiny bits of plant-flesh that had been caught by the needle. Those would undoubtedly scar. They looked too relaxed for someone who had just been put back together like that, their hand was too strong on his jaw. Kaito was sitting across from them, drumming his fingers along a pair of pliers. Zack was gonna hate this, he knew it.

Kaito didn't talk to him anymore while he did these things. He had gone from holding light conversations with himself to saying almost nothing at all. He looked at Zack as he handed the pliers over and his face had the same bored, almost disappointed expression. The pliers went, of all places, into Zack's mouth. His stomach turned as he realized where this was going. He had to get a tooth pulled at the dentists' once, when he was young; and he was one of those kids that had nightmares about the dentist. He tried to jerk his face away and close his mouth- he could probably bit Peco's fingers off if he really tried- but the hand holding his mouth open wouldn't let him. 

The pliers tapped against individual teeth, making their way down the row until Peco secured them around one that was situated towards the back of the bottom row and they _twisted_.

Getting a rotten tooth pulled when he was six was bad enough; this one didn't come out as easily as that one had. It finally popped out after a few good pulls and blood flooded in to fill the space as Zack tried to kick at them, at Kaito, he didn't exactly know. His mouth ached, tears were coming up.  Peco looked inordinately pleased with themselves, holding it between their fingers like a jewel.  

The second one didn't go any easier. It was from the top row, towards the back again, and this time he sobbed when it was yanked out. Kaito held his legs down, watching impassively and offering suggestions as to which tooth should go next. They decided to pull another one from the back (when he looked later, he noticed it was the very back, right by where the wisdom teeth would be) and an incisor. Peco had been happiest about that one.

When they were finished he was left shaking on his bed with a bloody mouth; he thought he was going to choke on it. And it didn't stop- it didn't stop later that night, it didn't stop when Peco had come back and untied him (however long that took). They helped him get the feeling back in his arms, his legs, rubbed soft circles over the bruises on his wrist and gave him ibuprofen and stuffed his mouth with gauze to finally stop the blood. They kissed his forehead before they left and told him they missed him this past week, they would tell Yoko not to tie him up so tightly, before leaving him to his own devices. He didn't move for who knows how long- he didn't think he could walk or look at himself or do anything  honestly; eventually he had to get up. He rubbed at his eyes and walked to the bathroom and tried not to think about what he looked like, with bags under his eyes and dried blood flaking around his mouth and greasy hair.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> lmao more skipping around!!! honestly im gonna put something in the overall description saying this isnt chronological b/c i just,dont care about that anymore lmao
> 
> dippin into some dental trauma & attempted murder,nbd.


	5. Bodyaches

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The wasp shares a symbiotic, parasitic relationship with two organisms: the Tomato Hornworm and the Fig.  
> With the Tomato Hornworm, a wasp will lay its' eggs, and the larval wasps will eat the hornworm alive from the inside out.  
> When it comes to figs, the wasp is looking to lay its eggs inside the male capfrig specifically. However, this is dependent on chance. If the wasp chooses a female edible fig, it will die in the process of attempting to lay its eggs, but pollenate the fruit.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> there is no way on gods green earth that yoko was happy with just setting kaito up as a king no way no fucking way
> 
> theres also a little tiny miniscule bit of yoko/kaito hahaha................

_People are tools_ , Yoko's mother had told her, usually as she watched her put on her makeup at the vanity, or try on evening gowns. _You just have to use them the right way_. She had taken those words to heart; of course people were tools, and if she used them the right way, no one would be the wiser. 

When she was a little older, she had learned about wasps. Wasps were parasites, and, depending on the species, laid their eggs in worms or figs. The larvae hatched within the worm would eat it alive from the inside. When it came to figs, things were a little bit more complicated- the wasp had to find the right kind of fig, and survive an arduous trek through a narrow passage to the inside of the fruit before it could lay its eggs. If the wasp found the wrong kind of fig, it would die, but pollenate the fruit. She decided she preferred to think of herself as a wasp.

But when it came down to it, she didn't care- did tools know they were being used? Or worms, or figs? Of course not. And it took time and skill to build anything worthwhile, it took determination and patience to lay your eggs, never mind having them hatch. Ryouma had bought into her 'kingmaker' rhetoric, and Kaito had, too. She was, in their minds, a power that reinforced their thrones. She had sworn her loyalty to Kaito and bet that he would win, and he did, and she was more than willing to stand on his shoulders to achieve her goals. Which put her so much farther ahead than the other dissenter. Zack wasn't looking to benefit from Kaito's success. 

She watched disinterestedly as Kaito's hand slid up her thigh; she had been sitting with him, reporting back after (yet another) failed attempt to find the leftover beat riders. They didn't do this often, just when they were in the mood- and right now she wasn't.

She wondered idly if she should let Zack die, or reveal him now. Either way, she or Kaito would have his head. And if she revealed him now, she would prove herself even more loyal than before.

With a gentle hand and even gentler words she dissuaded him, and he let her. 'Later,' she promised, and he nodded. There was still work she had to do.

Yoko spread the wrinkles out of her skirt when she got up to leave; she had things to do today. Seeds to plant, and so on. If she told Kaito about Zack's intent (not plans, the boy hadn't _planned_ anything) he would confront him, draw him out and crush him. If she told Peco, they would probably kill Zack then and there. They were fanatic, the true believer out of the three of them- it would be nice, wouldn't it, to have them on her side, regardless of if she tipped them off to Zack's intentions or not.

They usually spent their leisure time outside, in a garden that had become overgrown with vines and trees and strange fruits from Helheim. She turned to go find them; she kept thinking about wasps the whole way.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> /shrugs this happened p. quick its not consistent at fucking all but, as long as u know she's got plans


	6. Stranger Than Earth

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> And we break downstairs with our fevers in the air  
> I forgot to ask how I only left them there  
> Or,  
> Bury your dead

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> theres gonna be a followup to that chapter abt yoko but this has just been eating @ me the past few days

If anyone had asked Kureshima Mitsuzane who Peco was before any of this started, he wouldn't have had much of an idea. They were just some other kid, dancing for Team Baron; no one who really caught his attention at first (he didn't pay attention to anyone on Team Baron, not when Mai and Kota were so close). He remembered Kaito breaking their slingshot so long ago. They had showed him the new one they had gotten months later, when they met up again. They had been so happy about it, so excited.

That wasn't the same Peco that had found him, that had followed him and broke into his hiding place and had given him a bloody nose and mouth, that was holding him up and making him look at them; they had scars criss-crossing their skin, around their neck and fingers, a small, strange crudely-made bracelet around their wrist, dangling in front of him. This Peco looked like they had been to hell and back, looked ready to send _him_ to hell and not for the first time in his life he was afraid.

They let him fall from their hands onto the floor, placing their foot at his throat to keep him there. They were stronger than he expected. 

"This is all your fault."

Mitsuzane coughed, and tried to ignore the blood that dribbled out of his mouth and nose. He was never great with blood, never an actual fighter-

"You need to be taught a lesson. You need to be held responsible, you know? People like you," They ground their heel into his throat. "don't care about the consequences of your actions. And I thought a long time you know? On what to do once i found you, but I couldn't think of anything _good enough_."

But he could deal with it, he could deal with a little bit of blood he  _could_ , he dealt with a little bit of blood before, he dealt with worse than Peco trying to strangle him,

"So I guess I just came by to... I don't know," They shrugged. "Let you know I'm thinking of you. I guess I didn't plan ahead."

They took their foot off of his throat and walked back a few steps, watching him cough and sit up, holding his head. He must have had a concussion, he had hit his head earlier; Peco had slammed him into onto a table. His nose might have been broken too, it wouldn't stop bleeding-

"See you around."

He didn't know when Peco left, or how, just that they did. 

* * *

 

Peco went back to the base, to the dense garden that had grown in and sat underneath one of the trees. It was late in the afternoon, the sun was too hot and bright and it was humid, but inside wouldn't have been any better. It was like a blanket, the way it laid over you. They settled in by the tree and crossed their arms; the heavy feeling might have been the humidity. Might have been dissatisfaction, too, they couldn't tell and didn't care either way.  _  
_

They really didn't plan ahead.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> this is just,shameless self gratification lmao. sorryyyyyy


	7. Bodyaches (pt 2)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> I wanna know what's your  
> I wanna know what's your quietest feeling

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> theres just gotta be more lmao

Yoko honestly didn't know why anyone would willingly spend their time here, sitting in an overgrown plot of land that used to be their neighbors, where strange bugs crawled around in the wood and alien weeds choked out the native plants. She wasn't squeamish, or scared of bugs, but she had gotten her fill of it traipsing around the forrest with the professor. Peco had taken a liking to it, though, sitting in the shade of the trees to waste free time. She'd have to get used to it too, if the whole world was going to look like this.

They were sitting at the base of a particularly large tree, with their eyes closed and arms crossed. 

"Enjoying the afternoon?" She stepped off the overgrown paving stones to lean against the tree too. They didn't open their eyes to look at her, just shrugged.

"I guess."

"Is everything okay? You seem upset."

"It's nothing."

She let the silence settle for a while. They were obviously upset over something; she should change the subject.

"Zawame has become so beautiful," She looked around at the trees and vines and smiled her most genuine smile. "Don't you think?"

They opened their eyes finally and looked around them, but didn't say anything.

"It's a pity not everyone can see that," She sighed.

"You mean the old beat riders."

They were watching her now, as she walked away from the tree and over to a vine weighed down with colorful, ripe fruit. 

"They'll come around once we all find them." They shrugged. "No one can stand against Kaito."

"No. But," She turned around to look at them. "We have to be on our toes all the time, don't we? You never know where enemies might come from."

"Of course not."

Yoko looked back towards the house; the rest of the buildings on the street and in the city were becoming overgrown, and this house was no exception. She wondered if she could cut everything back, or perhaps find another place that hadn't become covered in vines. But she was getting ahead of herself. She turned back around and gave Peco her best smile.  
"I don't know, I just wanted to come out and chat a bit. We haven't really spent any time together, it's a shame. And we both want the same things."

Peco didn't say anything. She really had picked a bad time, hadn't she?

"I'll leave you alone now. Enjoy your afternoon." She turned around and began to walk back. Maybe she would go find Kaito, maybe she would go and spend the rest of her time alone. 

 "Wait." They stood up an brushed their pants off, walked up to her and crossed their arms. "What _do_ you want?"

"What do you mean?"

"You said we both want the same things." They shrugged. "What do you want?"

"We're the people who help make all of this possible, aren't we? When I was younger I wanted this. I wanted to help make something great, all kids do. And as an adult I have been given the rare opportunity to do that. Out of all of the people who could have done it, Kaito did. I want what Kaito wants. This though," She looked back around at the forrest. "This is just a first step, isn't it? Zawame can't possibly be where this ends. I want to go with him to the very end, the whole way."

They both stood in silence again. A bird had started to chirp somewhere up in the canopy. It was evening now, the shadows had grown long, and the light streaming through the trees gave the whole place the air of a cathedral almost. The worst cathedral anywhere, probably; the new cathedral.

Peco looked unsatisfied for a moment. Beginnings were always the hardest- everything was delicate, especially here. She looked at the bracelet around their wrist. They hadn't hesitated to pull out Zack's teeth, and the two of them had been friends- were more than friends, and they still looked at Zack like they adored him, with his teeth around their arm. She had no doubt they wouldn't hesitate to rip her teeth out too, if she messed this up. It was a subtle but effective threat.

The dissatisfaction passed as quickly as it had come though, and they smiled.

"Looks like we do want the same things."

They walked away from her then, leaving her behind to wander around the forrest more. She watched them go before walking back to the house.


	8. weird blood

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> & body heat

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> its not v sexy but i guess feeling around in someones insides is intimate

Nighttime was unusually, uncomfortably quiet. There used to be crickets, hiding in the bushes and trees that wouldn't let you sleep, the sound of cars going by or a dog barking at the neighbors coming home, or wind rustling leaves. Now, if it was dark, it was quiet. It made it more than a little difficult to sleep. Peco usually couldn't, not for hours- they would try sleeping on their stomach, their side, back, wrapped around a pillow wrapped in a blanket or not, until eventually they would pull a pillow over their head, like they were trying to shut out the silence.

Kaito, by contrast, was usually completely comfortable. He would come to bed late, wake up early, and in those few hours he was practically dead to the world. He had been a light sleeper before all of this, but now he barely slept at all. That might just have been what happened, when you were in that position.

Tonight wasn't much different. They said they were going to bed a few hours after it got dark, heading upstairs for another night. They changed into their pajamas and climbed into bed, and tried to go to sleep. It went the same as any other night, and they had just gotten to the part where they put the pillow over their head when Kaito came upstairs. Peco moved the pillow to look at him- he looked tired. They couldn't remember the last time he did, maybe they just didn't notice. They watched him change, watched him lay down and stretch out beside them.

"Don't pick at your stitches."

"What?"

"Your stitches," Kaito's hand covered theirs, pulling them away from the one around their arm, just under their shoulder. "They won't heal properly"

"I didn't realize I was doing it," They shrug. Kaito turned to face them, propped up on their arm to look at them better. "They itch a lot, and all that."

The scars were months old now, and still looked like they had when Peco had been sewn back together. Browner, now that the blood had properly dried and dried again and again. They wouldn't heal properly if the kept picking at them- then again, they most likely wouldn't heal at all. They were all on display now, the ones on their arms and stomach, usually covered up by the old tank top they wore to bed that had been rolled up by their tossing and turning. Kaito traced them, the ones around their shoulder, their collar bone, to one that wrapped around their other shoulder. It was long, reaching from the back of their shoulder and down their chest; it was half-hidden by their shirt. He let his fingertips rest on it for a moment before pushing them in. The stitches popped easily, and semi-fresh blood welled up and leaked out in small streams, mixing with a clear, foreign fluid that bled out with it. He spread it apart, and saw the inside of it was pink and shot through with slimy bits of green. The plant matter had grown back some. The flesh, not so much. 

Peco was squirming underneath him, making some noise he wasn't registering. He repeated the whole thing, this time with another cut across their stomach. Under the thin layer of fat and the muscle and connective tissue the green was more pronounced, with wide parallel strips. Inside of them was still warm, it had to be warm, or else the vines wouldn't grow. They were caring for their ecosystem, pumping blood and replacing neurons and regrowing to join separated parts. They had kept Peco warm and (mostly) strung together after Zack had cut him apart. They wouldn't go cold and still now, especially not with him here.

This one was a shallow one by comparison. Like Zack had started to hack away with the intent to cut them in half and forgone it for easier targets. Kaito managed to wiggle his fingers into the bottom of it, pushing just barely past the cut and the plants and into what would have been intestines. It might have been before (but it was hard to tell when only Kaito's fingertips could feel it, the rest being squeezed by muscle)- it was warm and liquid and he wished he could push in further. It would have to wait. Peco did look uncomfortable; they were panting and sweating and their eyes were closed tight against the pain. Somewhere along the line their hands had come up to grab at his arms, nails digging in hard enough to draw blood. He had only opened up two wounds, but Peco looked like they were almost ready to burst. 

He pulled his fingers out and placed his palm over the wound, smearing blood and mucus and more clear liquid on their stomach, leaning down to kiss them on the forehead, their mouth, and tell them how good they did, how good they had been for him. Eventually their breath evened out and they let his arms go, relaxing back into the bed. 

Kaito told them to stay put, that he'd be right back, before he got up to go find a sewing kit, and maybe some washcloths. It was hardly ideal, and the thread he had wasn't the thread he needed. Yoko had done them the first time, but he wouldn't be able to sew them as well. Peco barely moved when he did it, occasionally twitching when he maybe went too deep with the needle. After he was done he wiped up the mess that had been left, careful to mind the stitches. When he was done and the washcloth and kit put away, he climbed back into the bed- it was still, surprisingly, fairly clean of blood. A few small stains, easily ignored. A sheet was pulled up against the night air, and Kaito was sure to keep Peco from tossing and turning, holding them close. They wouldn't open their eyes until tomorrow, when they would groan and look at their new stitches and complain about how much they itched.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> weird plant zombies???


	9. baths

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> lmao

Peco held their hand above their eyes as a makeshift visor, squinting up at the sky though the insubstantial shade. "Where do you think it is?" 

"I don't know." Zack was a few paces ahead on the road; the two of them were walking down by one of the canals, sweating underneath withering leaves and the midday sun. They were making another sweep of the city, looking for old beatriders. Then again, if they found them in this heat, it wouldn't matter- it was too hot to use the belts, too hot to fight. And it hadn't rained in almost a month.

Rain had become at the very least a weekly occurrence, something the forrest might have changed simply by being there or something that, like the trees, bled over from its own dimension. None of them had seen any storms rolling out from dimensional tears, but. Since it hadn't rained, things shut down. Utilities had become rarer and rarer, water from the tap forgone for water collected in barrels from the rain, or distilled from water taken from the canals and rivers if they were desperate. And until now, they hadn't been.

Peco's mood had gone with the rain, and so had Kaito's. Zack suspected vines in them- there was almost definitely a physical change to accompany the psychological, and the longer and longer the dry spell lasted, the lower and lower their water supply, the angrier and more disgruntled the mood. Hence, their shuffling and looking for clouds.

"It's gotta rain soon, don't worry." He looked back to them.

"How would you know?" They gestured to the sky. "There's not a cloud anywhere!"

"If you're so desperate for water then why don't you just jump in the river?"

Zack started walking faster, tuning out Peco's arguments and complaints in favor of searching. Pretending to search. Thinking about pretending to search, for people he couldn't be bothered to think about right now. He was just going around in circles now, and he was trying to decide what to do and where to go and whether or not it would benefit him to take his shirt off and just lie down in the trees when he found himself tumbling down the steep bank and into warm water. 

Peco had pushed him into the river, and jumped in after him. It was a shallower one, with water was as muddy as it was warm. They both emerged covered in dirt. It was kinda gross, and squishy, and who knows what sort of litter was sitting on the bottom, but neither of them cared. All of the frustration from the day and the heat bubbled to the surface as they took turns pulling and pushing the other into the water, trying to keep each other down long enough for someones lungs to sting at the very least. Eventually though, the anger and aggravation evaporated out of them, and they collapsed into the shallows as they tried to catch their breath, laughing between gasps.

“You’re such a fucking jerk,” Peco leaned against him. “I can’t believe you did this.”

“You pushed me!”

“You started it!”

“You’re the jerk,” Zack laid back against the bank. “Pushing me into the water. I can’t believe _you_ did that.”

“I jumped in after you, at least.” Peco moved with him, stretched out on their side and propped up on their elbows, watching him.

He shrugged as they reached up to start playing with his hair absentmindedly, scoffing at him. Everything was quiet for a handful of minutes, sticky and slow and unmoving. Zack spoke first, muttering an “I missed you” under his breath. Peco stopped to give him a confused look.

“You miss me? I’m right here. Unless there’s another Peco running around,” They looked back towards the road they had been on, and across the river to the other street, seemingly checking for impostors.

“Do you remember anything from before all of this?” Zack watched him. “From back when we were a team, from before the invess games?”

“No.” They said it like it was the simplest thing in the world. “I mean, I know you and Kaito were there, that we were all together but,” They shrugged. “Why would I need to remember it? You’re both here with me now. We’re together now.”

_You don’t remember when we met? You don’t remember turning down Gaim, kissing after practice, breakfast after staying up all night, how worried your sister was when you called her a few months ago,_

It seemed like Zack had a million memories, all of them competing for attention and to be talked about. Peco had none of them. There was something behind their eyes instead, something far-off and glassy and impenetrable that kept them from going back there.

“Are you okay?” They put the back of their hand to his forehead. “You’re not getting sick or anything, are you?”

“No, forget I said anything. It must be the heat.” He stood back up, offering Peco a hand. “We should probably head back, if we haven’t found anyone by now then we’re probably not going to.”

They struggled not to slip as they made their way back up the bank to the road, frowning at how their shirts stuck to their skin and dripping water the whole way, tossing around quick conversations and friendly jabs. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> warm river water just sounds like a fucking nightmare  
> also who else is hyped for the next 2 gaidens we're gonna meet pecos siiiiiisterrrrrrr


	10. Fever Dreams

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> &growing pains

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> this was named after a beach boys song but ive been thinking about that scene from princess mononoke where the monk&ashitaka r chatting over soup&this is rlly not like that at all

There was a road going out of Zawame. By now you couldn't drive it, you had to climb and hack and finagle your way out, and once you made it to the tree line there was just broken asphault. It seemed very impossible, that there was just a road stretching out beyond what you could see, surrounded by plains of dry grass. There was nothing, and the wind would whip a your hair and clothes and the trees and blow up dirt in your eyes. Storm clouds hang in the sky, but that storm is never going to break. You will never take that first step out onto the tarmac.

The canals and rivers that were running through town are just as dry now.

The house is empty.

The town is silent.

You're the only person there.

The cycle repeats:  
Road, canal, house, town,

You don't know how many times you've been to each place; every time you blink, you move forward a place.

You're back at the road again. Theres a heavy sort of feeling settling in your stomach, and the wind on your face feels cool and wet. The heaviness is replaced by anticipation, if that's not what it was to begin with, and you feel like you're standing on the edge of a cliff rather than a tree line-

 

Time is moving differently. The days are moving faster, the nights are becoming shorter, and with it comes a sort of sensory overload. Everything in the city is mixing together, converging at one point and that point is the poison-induced headache right between Kaito's eyes. He's bleeding away into Helheim and it's either decomposition or growing pains, he can't tell. He doesn't think too long on it, blinking again and coming back around to the house, and breathing until things are catching up to him. The house isn't empty anymore- the city isn't empty anymore- he's lying in a bed (not his bed) and it's dark; Yoko's breathing slowly beside him, somewhere in her own dreams. There had to have been any number of days or weeks compressed into those twenty minutes or two hours or who knew how long. Time and space has slowed down for now, just for a moment, and he closes his eyes again.

The next time he wakes up, it's mid-afternoon and he's alone (alone and not alone, all at once, what an odd sensation), standing in the city.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I think that maybe the way katio (& maybe peco???) would perceive time/space might get rlly weird after a while, once u transcend humanity n all (this whole idea is based on helheim having its own sort of consciousness that the overlords get to merge into after a while & of course is pure conjecture but,yknow).


End file.
